America West Dumps Commissions

Published 7:00 pm, Friday, March 22, 2002

America West Airlines has joined other major carriers in dropping ticket commissions paid to travel agents.

In place of the commissions, the carrier said Friday that it will now pay travel agents bonuses of up to 5 percent if their ticket sales exceed a base level, which America West will set.

The airline had been paying commissions of 5 percent, up to $20, on each round-trip ticket sold by travel agents.

Delta, United, American, Continental and Northwest also have dropped the commissions for travel agents.

Airlines are trying to cut ticket-distribution costs and draw customers to their Internet sites. Ticket distribution is the fourth-largest expense for carriers after labor, fuel and aircraft, according to the Air Transport Association, the industry's trade group.

Travel agents say scrapping commissions will force some agencies to close and cause passengers to pay more for tickets because they will have to book their trips directly with airlines.

"In essence, this is a fare increase, putting more money in the pockets of the airlines," said Pam Stewart, owner of Stewart Travel of Mesa.